Temple in the sea- Story of Sew Dass Sadhu

Trinidad and Tobago is an island in the Caribbean. Thousands of miles away from India…closer to the Americas. This country, like India, was also ruled by the British for many years. During this time, they needed people to work in the sugarcane and cocoa fields. So they brought many Indian families to work in these fields. One such immigrant was Sew Dass Sadhu, whose parents had moved to Trinidad and Tobago more than a hundred years ago. Sew Dass’s was a disciplined and devoted Hindu family. As he was growing up he realized that it was not possible to go to India to offer prayers in temples since it was very expensive and they did not have enough money. He, therefore, decided to build a holy shrine on the island. The calm Gulf of Paria was like the Ganges in India to him. He found a swamp, unused land, and decided to use it to make a small temple. After his work in the sugarcane fields, he used to ride his bicycle in the evening and construct a small temple with whatever materials available. But after he completed the small temple, the owner of the property demanded SewDass Sadhu to demolish the temple. SewDass refused. So the owner went to court. The court arrested SewDass for constructing a temple in another person’s land and also fined him. He was put in jail for 15 days. As soon as he was released from the jail, he went straight to the place he had constructed the temple. He was very sad that…